Is It Really Important to Buy Sustainable Products? How Shuckin’ Shack Oyster Bar Franchise Is Already Doing It!
Our commitment to sustainability isn’t only a branding angle for a new bar franchise. It’s something we genuinely believe in at Shuckin’ Shack. We’ve been sailing into uncharted waters from day one, trying to figure out how to minimize our environmental footprint without sacrificing quality – or skyrocketing our menu prices like everyone else! We want to bring a different kind of dining experience to the fast-casual segment, a seafood restaurant where you don’t have to wear a blazer and a pair of shiny shoes just to sit at the bar top and order a draft beer or fresh oysters.
Instead, we go entirely in the other direction at Shuckin’ Shack, and unlike others, we’ve worked sustainable sourcing into our franchise business model. But why? What’s the deal with that because it’s not exactly easy to make such a commitment, especially these days with prices on the rise everywhere you look.
Without a doubt, ethically sourced fish and other staples can be a boon to a new bar franchise owner, so here’s how we make it work at Shuckin’ Shack.
What the shuck does sustainability mean in the restaurant and bar business?
Sustainability is a cliche for some people, yet we take it to heart. Anyone can open a seafood restaurant, partner with a standard food distributor, mark up the menu price accordingly, and hope the sales come in like the tide. OK, that’s all well and good, so what happens when no one comes by or doesn’t even give the new place the time of day? What went wrong?
In all likelihood, it’s because the bar didn’t have anything to separate it from the competition; it sunk faster than a leaky rowboat. Sustainably sourcing your menu items is one way to be different, and our track record proves it works. Still, it’s not just a sales pitch for us! Sustainability means that you care about the environment; however, it’s more than that. It means that you’re taking the long approach and looking for ways to reduce your impact for decades to come.
Not so long ago, it would’ve cost you a pretty penny to push all your chips into the pot and go all-in with sustainability, but the partnerships we’ve developed set us apart from the rest. Not even hoity-toity seafood places have these kinds of partners on board. Here’s what you get when you buy into a Shuckin’ Shack bar franchise for sale.
How Shuckin’ Shack does sustainable sourcing
It’s one thing to say that you want to help the oceans look beautiful for generations, but does the business reflect it? It’s tempting to open up a seafood restaurant once you find a sustainable, ethical distributor. The catch is that it’s only one source, so what happens if that company says they can’t fulfill your order on time, if at all?
At Shuckin’ Shack, we’ve partnered with Stevens Food Group to ensure our locations never have to worry about whether or not inventory will be available. Guess what? We didn’t stop there! We also won the stamp of approval as an Ocean Friendly Establishment from the Plastic Ocean Project and the Surfrider Foundation.
This kind of recognition already distinguishes our concept from the usual options. The good news for those considering a seafood bar franchise is that we took things a step further. We also work with the James Beard Foundation’s Smart Catch Program, and we’re an active participant in the Oyster Shell Recycling Program.
In other words, we talk the talk at Shuckin’ Shack when others are only paying lip service to environmental sustainability. Some people genuinely don’t believe in it, and it shows in how they choose to source key menu ingredients. Many fledgling entrepreneurs have tried the “catch-to-table” concept, which dovetailed nicely with the farm-to-table craze a while back. We’ve made it work whereas others have failed, and we accomplished such a feat by taking sustainability to heart and working it into our restaurant’s business model.
What’s the benefit for bar franchise owners?
The bottom line is this: you can provide guests with great-tasting seafood when it’s sustainably sourced because these types of fishers take the commitment seriously. Not everyone cares about bycatch when they trawl the ocean with large nets looking for a particular kind of sea animal. You’ll get what you need, yes, but at what cost? Seafood captured in mass quantities isn’t the greatest quality. Sustainable sources take more care to give fish a safe, natural environment to grow as healthy as possible. The only natural outcome is that the fish tastes great, better than you’d think, as a matter of fact.
When your restaurant patrons ask you about what sustainability means to us, get ready to pull up a chair and tell them our story – and hopefully, yours too! We take sustainability seriously, and we have the business relationships to prove it.
Visit our franchise website to learn more about joining the Shuckin’ Shack family.